Pius Suter scored a pair of unassisted goals and the visiting Detroit Red Wings handed the slumping Washington Capitals their fifth consecutive loss, 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Robert Hagg scored his first goal of the season for the Red Wings, who have won six of their past seven games. Ville Husso made 26 saves for Detroit, which wrapped up a 4-1-0 road trip.
Suter has notched five goals in the past five games, along with scoring a decisive shootout goal against the Edmonton Oilers.
Tom Wilson’s power-play goal was the only offense the Capitals could muster. Darcy Kuemper stopped 22 shots.
The Red Wings were credited with 28 blocked shots, compared to 13 by Washington. The Red Wings secured the season series against the Capitals, 2-0-1, and pulled even with Washington in the Eastern Conference standings with 62 points. Both teams are two points off the final wild-card position.
Washington’s Alex Ovechkin missed his fourth consecutive game after the death of his father. Capitals forward Anthony Mantha missed most of the last two periods due to an upper-body injury.
Detroit captain Dylan Larkin was given a game misconduct and a five-minute penalty in the first period after crosschecking T.J. Oshie. Larkin had a seven-game point streak snapped.
The Red Wings led 2-1 after the first period.
Hagg opened the scoring at 10:16 when he ripped a shot from the point past a screened Kuemper. Tyler Bertuzzi and Olli Maatta had the assists.
Larkin’s penalty gave the Capitals a five-minute power play, but Suter scored an unassisted short-handed goal on a two-on-one break at 14:22.
Washington answered before the penalty expired when Wilson redirected Erik Gustafsson’s shot from the point past Husso on the glove side. Nicklas Backstrom collected the other assist.
The Capitals’ Garnet Hathaway hit the post with a shot early in the second. Detroit’s Jake Walman did the same in the final seconds of the period.
Suter made it 3-1 at 6:24 of the third. Washington turned the puck over in its zone and Suter beat Kuemper with a shot from the slot.
–Field Level Media